Country India Ministry Finance Website www.pmjdy.gov.in | Prime Minister Narendra Modi Key people Arun Jaitley | |
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Launched 28 August 2014; 2 years ago (2014-08-28) | ||
Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (IPA: Pradhān Mantrī Jana Dhan Yōjanā) (Hindi: प्रधानमंत्री जन धन योजना, English: Prime Minister's People Money Scheme) (PMJDY) is India's National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely Banking Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner. This financial inclusion campaign was launched by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 28 August 2014 He had announced this scheme on his first Independence Day speech on 15 August 2014.
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Run by Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, on the inauguration day, 1.5 Crore (15 million) bank accounts were opened under this scheme. Guinness World Records Recognises the Achievements made under PMJDY, Guinness World Records Certificate says "The most bank accounts opened in 1 week as a part of financial inclusion campaign is 18,096,130 and was achieved by Banks in India from 23 to 29 August 2014". By 1 February 2017, over 27 crore (270 million) bank accounts were opened and almost ₹665 billion (US$10 billion) were deposited under the scheme.
Investments
Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana statistics as on 1 March 2017 (All Figures in Crores)
Purpose
In a run up to the formal launch of this scheme, the Prime Minister personally mailed to Chairmans of all PSU banks to gear up for the gigantic task of enrolling over 7.5 crore (75 million) households and to open their accounts. In this email he categorically declared that a bank account for each household was a "national priority".
The scheme has been started with a target to provide 'universal and clear access to banking facilities' starting with "Basic Banking Accounts" with overdraft facility of ₹5,000 (US$74) after six months and RuPay Debit card with inbuilt accident insurance cover of ₹1 lakh (US$1,500) and RuPay Kisan Card. In next phase, micro insurance & pension etc. will also be added.
Under the scheme:
- Account holders will be provided bank accounts with no minimum balance.
- RuPay debit cards will be issued.
- Accidental insurance cover of ₹1 lakh (US$1,500).
- After six months of opening of the bank account, holders will be eligible for ₹5,000 (US$74) overdraft from the bank.
- With the introduction of new technology introduced by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a person can transfer funds, check balance through a normal phone which was earlier limited only to smart phones.
- Mobile banking for the poor would be available through National Unified USSD Platform (NUUP) for which all banks and mobile companies have come together
Performance
Due to the preparations done in the run-up, as mentioned above, on the inauguration day, 1.5 Crore (15 million) bank accounts were opened. The Prime Minister said on this occasion- "Let us celebrate today as the day of financial freedom." By September 2014, 3.02 crore accounts were opened under the scheme, amongst Public sector banks, SBI had opened 30 lakh (3 million) accounts, followed by Punjab National Bank with 20.24 lakh (2 million) accounts, Canara Bank 16.21 lakh (1.62 million) accounts, Central Bank of India 15.98 lakh (1.59 million) accounts and Bank of Baroda with 14.22 lakh (1.42 million) accounts.
It was reported that total of 7 Crore (70 million) bank accounts have been opened with deposits totaling more than ₹50 billion (US$740 million) as of 6 November 2014. As the government met the target, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has revised the target for opening of bank accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the ambitious financial inclusion scheme launched by the government, from 7.5 crore to 10 crore by 26 January 2015. On 20 January 2015, the scheme entered into Guinness book of world records setting new record for 'The most bank accounts opened in one week'.
The number of accounts opened under the scheme reached 255 million (including 57 million zero balance accounts) by November 2016. The amount of deposits rose to ₹380.47 billion (US$5.7 billion) by April 2016. 19 lakh householders have availed the overdraft facility of ₹2.56 billion (US$38 million) by May 2016. As per the 26.11.2016 status total account deposits balance is Rs.64250/-
Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have got 29% of the total deposits under the scheme, whereas Kerala and Goa became the first states in the country to provide one basic bank account to every household.
The balance in Jan Dhan accounts rose by more than ₹270 billion (US$4.0 billion) between 9 November 2016 and 23 November 2016.
Criticism
The scheme has been criticized by opposition as an effort to please voters that has created unnecessary work-burden on the public-sector banks. It has been claimed that the poor deserves food more than bank accounts and financial security. Further, these accounts have not yet added considerable profits to PSU banks. According to the experts, offers like zero balance, free insurance and overdraft facility would result in duplication. Many individuals who already have bank accounts may have had accounts created for themselves, lured by the insurance covers and overdraft facilities. As per the scheme, a very few people are eligible to get the life insurance worth ₹30,000 (US$450) with a validity of just five years. The claimed overdraft facility has been completely left upon the banks. As per the government notice, only those people would get the overdraft facility whose transaction record is satisfactory and financially.